Our survey says... Luton is one of the safest places to live and work in the UK

Luton has come joint top in a survey looking at the safest town/cities to live and work in across the UK.

In a three-way tie, Luton, Swindon and London shared the title of being one of the safest places to be.

The figures come from a survey which collects data on workplace injuries, crime rates and sickness.

Forty town/cities were covered in the UK Safety and Wellbeing Index, carried out by Phoenix Health and Safety.

It revealed Luton had seven deaths for every 1,000 people in the town, no workplace injuries reported, 24 per 1,000 people reporting mental health issues, 37 crimes reported per 1,000 people and 29 per 1,000 people reported sickness absences in the workplace.

A spokesperson for Luton Council said: “We all deserve to feel safe and healthy in our workplace and it’s great to see Luton setting the standard.

“Being recognised as one the UK’s safest places to work is a testament to both our employers and businesses, as well as the teams who ensure standards are upheld.

“And there is more reason than ever for people to look to our town for opportunities. We recently launched our Town Centre Masterplan, a bold new plan to ‘reimagine’ Luton town centre bringing new development, investment and jobs.

“Work is already underway, and in recent years we have seen multi-million pound investment at the university, new developments in the culture quarter and hat district including Hat Works and Youthscape.

“It’s all part of our Luton 2040 vision to make our town a place for all to thrive.”

The compilers of the report say Luton sets a standard with zero workplace injuries per capita of 1,000, and sickness - London’s rate of sickness is equally low - indicating an extremely low-level metric compared to other locations.

Swindon and Luton are both cities that have moved towards service and retail-based economies, away from the riskier industries of construction and manufacturing.

Bottom of the list was Wakefield with high rates of injuries in the workplace, crime and staff sickness.

You can find the report here> What do you think of the findings? Email [email protected]